Unexpected
by untouchable hexing witch
Summary: There weren't many things that ever surprised Pietro Maximoff, but somehow she had managed to make the list of things that did. XIETRO ONESHOT.


O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O **Disclaimer** O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O

X-men Evolution and it's characters do not belong to me. If they did all my crack ships would be canon and they would be super awesome!

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O **AN** O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O

So I had a small idea, but like a few of my other small ideas things happened and before I could help it this got bigger then what I had planned or expected. I don't think it's anything great (so don't get your hopes up too much lol) but I hope that all the X-ietro fans out there enjoy it!

I'm dedicating this to _Coolsville time_ for being an awesome friend, _LoveMeant2B_ as a belated Bday present(HAPPY BIRTHDAY) and _Dooms Doll_ because her latest review has gotten me very excited about returning to _Rebellious Hearts_ soon :)

Pairing: Xietro (Quicksilver x X23)

Rating T : For Language

Sorry for any grammar errors and OOC. Also author loves reviews so if you read and enjoy please let me know! Thanks!

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O **Unexpected** O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O

There weren't many things that ever surprised Pietro Maximoff, but somehow she had managed to make the list of things that did.

As he pondered over this thought his sapphire eyes skimmed the sky. Just a few hours ago the sun had been bright, the air had been warm with a slight breeze but that had quickly changed. Clouds rolled in from out of nowhere, small droplets fell from up above and the melodic waves from earlier had turned to furious cries as they crashed against the stone wall feet away from him.

It had been very unexpected.

He had watched the weather channel and they had made no mention of the storm, if it had maybe he would have chosen another location before packing up and leaving the S.H.I.E.L.D base.

A small sigh escaped his lips before they curled upwards as he closed his eyes. Memories of other unforeseen events coming to mind as the smell of wet sand hit his senses...

One of the first ones that came to mind was when Wanda showed up at the boarding house. Her anger towards their father and himself wasn't surprising. At that time he had gotten nightmares every once in awhile, her tearful eyes watching them as she got taken inside the asylum. He had expected her to eventually come and find them, just not when Mystique brought her in, that had been quite alarming.

But like all surprising things in his life, things eventually fell into place.

Thanks to his father's and Mastermind's memory manipulation Wanda's anger had calmed, even better after the battle with Apocalypse their small family had come together and united. Relations with the X-men had gotten better as well, though they still enjoyed the usual squabble here and there...and that's where he met _her_.

It wasn't unusual when the X-Men brought along new faces to their training exercises. He never paid much attention to any of them though, for most it was a test to see if they were ready to be on the battlefield and usually they wouldn't see that individual again or at least for a few months.

That wasn't the case for her. She was different, he didn't notice it right away...actually it would take a long time for him to realize how different she was, but at that time when he first laid his sapphire eyes on her all he did was smirk.

He could still remember the way his head had tilted to the side, smirk in place as he gave a small scoff. His eyes had traveled slightly to the side to look at Avalanche through his peripherals as he remarked, "So they're letting little kids into the X-men now?"

Blob and Toad had laughed at the joke but before Lance could comment back there was a loud sound telling them that their drill was starting. The fun was about to start.

His head straightened, "I've got the short one…shouldn't take long..."

"Actually…" before Avalanche could finish he was gone in a blur.

It wasn't until later that night when he was on the couch at the boarding house, an ice pack to his ankle, a dark purple bruise at his abdomen, a long scratch on his cheek and a bandage on his eyebrow where he bothered to ask Lance what it was that he had been planning to say. To say he was annoyed at the fact that he had known that the "short-shit" that had made him eat his words was Wolverine's clone, was definitely an understatement.

That would have to be the first time she had taken him by surprise, not that he would have admitted it then, or now for that matter. At that time he had been a proud 17 year old boy, and getting beaten up by a "little girl" who hardly went up to his shoulder was nothing to brag about.

The other Hood members didn't make matters any better either. While he was trying to fix his injuries and forget the whole incident he could hear their teasing and snickers. His only response was to roll his eyes and ignore them, the only comforting thought was that they would eventually forget and he would never have to see her again.

Unfortunately for him, luck wasn't on his side and he realized this the next day at school. He had gone ahead of the others wanting to get away since they had decided not to stop their annoying teasings. When he got there he noticed how early it actually was. Most of the school parking was still empty except for a few cars and to his annoyance Scott's car and the jeep Kitty was driving around were both there.

He had looked around scanning the area for any "X-geeks" and when he saw that the coast was clear he made his way towards the building. As he walked down the hallway where his locker was located his pace slowed and he eventually stopped mid way towards it noticing something out of place in the empty corridor.

The locker next to him was unoccupied, it had been all year. Seemed some humans were still reluctant about standing next to a mutant but lo and behold, said locked was now opened hiding its owner from view.

His eyebrow had perked up in curiosity as he continued his stroll towards his own locker. As he got closer he eyed the petite body frame, it was a girl. A smirk plastered itself on his features at the thought, new girls were always fun and he always had room to add to his list of admirers.

The smirk was wiped clear off his face though as the metal door closed and his sapphire orbs met with green.

"Fuck me…" he muttered exasperated.

"I know you're fast but isn't that a little too fast? We've only had one fight…"

He glowered at the dark skinned girl, here face a mixture of confusion and distaste at his words.

"Believe-me-that-wasn't-an-invitation," he quickly remarked and passed by her. Her expression remained the same as she watched him, whether she understood him he didn't know or care but after a few seconds of rummaging through his locker he noticed that she had not moved and her green orbs were still on his.

"What-are-you-looking-at?" he asked crossing his arms in front of his chest and leaning on the locker besides him. He watched her and waited for a response but after a minute of silence he gave an annoyed grunt and went back to his locker.

"What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be at some elementary school or something?" This time his words were slower, making sure she understood every syllable.

Her expression didn't change except for a minor eye roll. "I may not look it but I'm very well trained for this school of yours..." and for a brief moment he saw her eyes fade out as if deep in thought about something, it must have been unpleasant too because her lips which had been in a straight line suddenly curled downwards.

After a few seconds she caught her actions and shook her head as if trying to throw the thoughts away. Her scowl faded and went back to a straight line before her lips parted, "And...apparently coming to school is a rule when you're an X-men..." with those final words she turned around, not giving him any last glances or words of farewell.

He had looked after her, a confused expression on his face while thinking that that was definitely the weirdest way anyone had ever finished a conversation with him. He watched her until she disappeared from the hallway and when she was finally out of sight he had shrugged and walked the opposite way she had gone, deciding not to waste any more time thinking about any x-geeks who had nothing to do with him.

Life went on normally after that. Girls came and went, training battles with the x-men came and went and surprisingly enough those were the only few times he would get glimpses of her. An odd occurrence considering the fact that they were locker neighbors, but somehow they always managed to miss each other. He was never that early to school again and the hallways were always too crowded for him to notice if she was around.

It wasn't until a good three months later when he started seeing her a bit more often outside of the training exercises…and if he was going to be honest he hadn't been too pleased as to why he was seeing so much of her.

One day he had arrived at the boarding house, his lips attached to that of a beautiful strawberry blonde with green eyes and long legs. Her hands were roaming his back muscles as he pressed her against the door and he blindly tried to unlock the door. It wasn't too often when he brought a girl home, and whenever he did it was because he knew no one was planning to be home. It wasn't that he was against flaunting the beautiful girls he had wrapped around his fingers, it was just sometimes these actions were a lot more enjoyable without having to worry about being quite.

That day had been one of those days. Todd and Fred had gone to watch some new action flick, Lance had a date with Shadowcat, and Wanda had expressed thoughts of going out with some friend...it was perfect timing for him to have his own kind of fun.

After he successfully unlocked the door, he parted from the his partner and dragged her into the house. She giggled and followed only stopping as he harshly grabbed her and pushed her against the wall closest to the living room. His head leaned down and recaptured the pink lips while his hands went to her waist and slowly traveled down the long legs. His partner gave a moan into his mouth making him smirk as a hand started playing with the hem of her mini skirt but before he could go any further an unfamiliar sound echoed through his ears.

"Ahem…"

His eyes widened at the sound and he pulled away from the girl so rapidly that the speed made her topple over and hit the floor. He looked at her and moved to help her up but while doing so he glance at their peeper. At seeing who it was his hand had pulled back towards his body leaving his friend on the floor without assistance.

"What-are-you-doing-here?" He asked while sensing déjà vu as green eyes stared at him in a bored fashion. Her eyebrow perked up as her shoulder shrugged giving him an answer. His sapphire eyes rolled before looking the short girl over. She was wearing black pants, a dark blue t-shirt and a black long sleeve under giving her a tomboyish look.

When he looked back at her he saw that her green eyes were on him for a few seconds before looking past him to the strawberry blond, he looked at her as well and noticed she was starting to get up, a frown on her beautiful features. When she was fully up she looked from him to their guest but before she could inquire about it they heard steps coming towards them.

"Pietro, you're home early."

His head then turned and looked into eyes identical to his own, "Yeah..." He answered slowly before turning back towards the girl standing in their living room.

"You've met Laura, right?" Wanda asked with a ghost of smile as she watched him eye the short X-men.

"Uh...yeah…"

"And...who's this?"he watched his twin turn and look at the girl who was looking from one to the other.

"This is...a friend. Crystal, this is my sister Wanda," the girl smiled and said hello. Wanda's response was to nod seeming unimpressed.

"Are you staying? we're about to put a movie on."

As his mouth opened to respond the smell of popcorn filled the hallway and he suddenly noticed that they still had more guest. The second guest had a bowl of popcorn in her hands as she walked out through the kitchen door, as she walked by she paid no attention to Crystal or himself.

"No," he answered after a few seconds and then added, "it's suddenly feeling a little crowded in here." He had then turned and looked at his own guest, "How bout you meet me outside?"

Crystal perked an eyebrow at him before nodding and walking out the way they had come in. He watched her and as the door closed all the way he turned around and gave his sister a questioning look.

"Weird company you're keeping…" he commented not bothering to whisper. If either of the X-men heard him they chose to ignore the comment not even sparing him a glance.

"You think? I actually see it as a good fit...you boys were starting to drive me crazy anyways. Sorry for interrupting your...fun with your friend."

This comment made him smirk, it slowly turned into a charming smile as he walked backwards, "Don't wait up…"

"You're not going to say goodbye?"

He frowned at her, his facial expression asking, 'Are-You-Serious?' Wanda just perked an eyebrow at him, a ghost of a smile appearing on her face again. He then rolled his eyes at his sister, not finding her amusing at all but besides his thoughts he turned his face sideways to take one last look at their guest. Rogue was now sitting on their long couch, a hand reaching into the bowl of popcorn as her eyes stayed focused on the television. He then turned a bit and met with green orbs again, the look was only a fleeting moment but for some reason it felt much longer than that before she blinked and turned towards the television as well.

He then left, not bothering to say anything else, not even to Wanda who stared after him bemused. After that incident he noticed that her presence was more frequent, so frequent that he eventually stopped being surprised whenever he walked into one of the rooms of the boarding house to find green eyes staring at him.

When he got caught unaware yet again, it was also because of a girl. This time it was not an X-men, it was someone closer to his heart. A few months after befriending Rogue and X-23, Wanda started getting nightmares. At first none of them had a clue, they would only notice that she looked tired, almost as if she had hardly gotten any sleep. They eventually found out about the nightmares, not because she told them but because the screams in the middle of the night were pretty hard to miss.

She kept dismissed things as simple nightmares, nothing to worry about...but the screams started occurring more often along with some headaches and one night it just happened. The scream came louder than it had been before, as they rushed into her room to offer support and comfort they all got pushed back. She walked passed their fallen bodies and as she passed him she looked directly into his eyes. Her stare was intense, crazed and then without a word she walked off. When they heard the door slam they all got back on their feet and he swallowed hard.

"She's remembered…"

There was no question in his mind about where she was going, she was off to see him, their father. He sighed and then one by one they made their way downstairs to the living room to wait. The only question going through his head was whether she'd be coming back on her own, or dragged back by other means.

The wait was tedious and was going far longer than what any of them were expecting. It eventually got to the point where Pietro had to rethink if she had really gone to see Magneto. Since he was unsure about it, he called the only other person he thought she'd go see, or more like he made Lance call.

He didn't really like talking to any of the X-men, even if they were on more friendlier terms so when Lance handed over the phone he took it with hesitation. After a sigh he brought the receiver up to his ear…

"Hello..."

"...Yes?"

He wasn't surprised that she didn't greet him, somehow it fit her stoic personality. "Uh...hi...I was just wondering if you've heard from Wanda?"

She responded with a 'no' and then inquired about why he was asking which made him come out with the whole story. She listened quietly and patiently, when he was finally done she stated 'I'll be right over' and hung up. He looked at the phone in surprise before handing it back to Lance.

A while later he heard the doorknob wiggle, he stood to open the door for her but it opened by itself. His eyes widened at the sight before him but before he could say anything a blue light surrounded his body and he went crashing to a wall. From his position on the floor he then watched Wanda make her way upstairs to her room with _him_ in tow.

After a moment of shock he got up and looked upwards to the stairs wondering if he should follow. Deciding that it would be best for him to think over what he was going to say he made his way outside and sat on the steps leading to the door, leaving the other members looking on in awe at what had just happened.

And that's how she found him. On the front steps, his chin resting on his hand, his elbow resting on his knee.

"She's back…"

"Yeah...how'd you know?"

He watched her look around before she tapped her nose, "The scent is fresh…" he nodded at her response but didn't offer any more words making her move the weight on her body from one foot to the other before she moved towards him. He expected her to pass him and go inside but was surprised when she took a seat next to him instead. She sat quietly next to him, her eyes wandering over the place and every once in awhile her gaze would fall on him.

After a few minutes he finally broke the silence, "I should go talk to her…"

"That's probably not wise, she must want to be alone."

"But she's not alone she came with…"

"Pyro."

His eyes widened a bit when she finished for him. They went back to normal as he realized that if she had sniffed out Wanda then it was obvious that she had smelled him too. "I think they messed with her memories again…"

"Did she attack you?"

"...yeah."

"Then I don't think they did."

"Then why is..."

"Your sister doesn't have to tell you everything...and I believe those kind of conversation would be awkward for siblings anyway..."

His eyes widened at the realization of what X-23 was getting at. He was in such shock that he hardly listened to her say that she was surprised that she even let him come back with her because if the hood members knew about the memory situation then obviously the Acolytes would know too. What finally broke him out of his daze was a small unfamiliar chuckle which made his head turned sideways.

"Is it really that surprising?"

"...I...well...yeah! I've never seen them exchange a word! Or even a look!"

"Maybe you just haven't been looking. It's not my business to tell you but just know that Gambit always finds Rogue...no matter where we go, and he tends to have a follower. So connect the dots yourself."

He nodded numbly still trying to register all the new information. At his continued silence he heard yet another small chuckle making his focus go away from his thoughts and land on the younger girl next to him. As he watched her the chuckle stopped but her lips remained curled upwards, and he found himself speaking before thinking.

"You should smile more often...it looks good on you."

He watched the green eyes open wide at the compliment and though the lips didn't curl downwards they went into a straight line.

"I-mean-it's-not-like-I-care-or-anything-but-whate ver-I-was-just-making-an-observation-you-know-what -forget-it-nevermind-I-didn't-say anything," the words came out in a quick rush and after he was done dashing them out he got up in a quick blur. As he stood awkwardly on the steps he refused to look at her but felt her gaze on him. He then felt her stand as well, his gaze didn't move from where they were looking at but now instead of looking at the surrounding scenery they now stared at brown locks of hair.

"Since Wanda's back and safe I guess I should be off. I was planning on helping track her but there's no need anymore...I'll just call her later."

"Alright…" and with those words she started walking away, neither saying a proper goodbye. Even after she was long gone Pietro stayed in place, wondering why he suddenly felt better even though he knew this Wanda fiasco was no where near being over.

It took two months for Wanda to warm up to him after that incident. He pretty much left her alone, mainly because the few times he had tried talking to her resulted in him ending up at the bottom of the stairs or being blasted against a wall. Throughout that time he found himself finding ways to distract himself. The last thing he wanted to think about was Wanda's disappointed stare...or worse yet...he did not want to think about Pyro's frequent appearance now that everything to seem to be out in the open about their relationship.

The biggest help in keeping his mind off this was a pair of long legs and strawberry blond hair. His friend Crystal, turned into more than just a friend surprising...no one. She was just his type: Beautiful, blonde, tall with the supermodel build. The only thing that did surprise the others was that the relationship was lasting longer than his usual fling.

That wasn't his only distraction though, and the second one was the one that made a few eyebrows perk. Ever since their conversation outside of the boarding house he found himself being more cordial with the shortest x girl. It had started off with small 'hello's and 'hey's when she would visit Wanda. Then it subtlety changed to 'how's it going?' and 'what's up?' and before either of them knew what was changing they found themselves having five minute conversations before she even went to find Wanda.

One day she dropped by unannounced looking for his sister only to find that she was out with John. Instead of leaving though she found herself staying and keeping him company since he was home alone. His original plan had been to call Crystal but as X-23 made herself at home he found himself forgetting his blond girlfriend, it wasn't until hours later after talks about the past that he even bothered to check his phone. He frowned as he saw the fifteen missed calls but when she asked if something was wrong he gave a small smile and replied with a 'no' before closing the silver phone and putting it on the table far away from himself.

That accidental hangout became a weekly thing and though everyone noticed the change from acquaintances to friends from the unusual duo, no one mentioned it. It was better to stay silent then have to deal with her defensive anger or his defensive whining.

One person though didn't share those thoughts and as time went by and the friendship grew they let those uncomfortable feelings out. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't a pleasant confession as the loud screeching from a self conscious blond echoed through his head.

That's how she found him yet again, on the steps to the boarding house his chin resting on his hand bringing a sense of deja vu. Hi sapphire eyes followed her as she got closer and as she moved to take a seat besides him he stopped her by saying, "Wanda's inside...alone for once."

He watched her lips curl upwards into a smirk, "Still not enjoying your new roommate?" she asked teasingly knowing that he did not like that Pyro had moved into the boarding house. The Acolytes had disbanded, Colossus moved back to his native Russia while Gambit decided to join the X-men, much to Rogue's pleasure and dismay.

He watched her for a moment before grunting in response. Her smirk stayed in place and she once again made a move to sit besides him.

"I said Wanda's inside alone."

He watched her stop again and her body straighten up, one of her hands then went to rest on her hip, "Well isn't someone being moody?" after giving her no response she rolled her eyes made a noise that sounded like a scoff and started to walk past him. Before she made it to the door she stopped as an "Uh…" escaped his thin lips. He turned his head sideways and blue met green.

He should have looked away, if he had she would have continued on her way and left him alone but for some reason he couldn't pull away now that their eyes were connected. She stared at him a bit longer before sighing and moving backwards towards him and taking a seat next to him.

It was quiet for a few minutes before she cleared her throat, "So, what exactly is up your ass?"

"It's-nothing."

"Doesn't seem like nothing. Trouble in paradise?" He perked an eyebrow and his head tilted to look at her face. Taking that as a yes she tsked, "What did you do Romeo?"

"I-didn't-do-anything!-That's-what's-so-stupid-abo ut-it-Juliet-is-just-stupid," he answered in a rush.

"Call me biased for being a girl, but usually when the girl is upset it's because the boy did something…"

"You are being biased…" he replied sitting up straight and folding his arms in front of his chest. "I didn't do anything. She just has problems…"

"Like?"

He shrugged, "Jealousy issues I guess. She thinks i'm talking to other girls."

"Are you?"

He looked at her incredulously, "No! Well...not like that." He watched her perked an eyebrow at him, "I'm being good!" he insisted making her smirk and look away.

"So...she's getting mad that you're making small chat with girls?"

"Something like that."

"Ok...what are you going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well you can't just sit here and sulk all day. Well...I guess you can...which means you'll just wait things out and hope that it just blows over and she'll eventually get over this...or you can decide that this isn't worth your time and dump her...or you can just actually do what she wants and stop being a flirting ass."

"I told you...nevermind. How do I know which one to pick?"

"The hell if know...I guess it depends on how much you like her…"

"Hmm…" they sat in silence for a few seconds before he looked at her again and a ghost of a smirk appeared on his face, "So...you got some counseling training along with that military training at H.Y.D.R.A?"

She rolled her eyes and started getting up, "No...I guess i'm just picking up all this emotional crap as I go...I've impressed you though so I guess I'm doing a good job…"

He nodded and watched her back as she walked closer to the door. He then heard the door knob twist and the door open but before she walked in she stopped and looked over her shoulder at him, "So...how much do you like her?"

His eyes widened a bit at the question, he had then shrugged and looked away, "I'll let you know when I figure it out…" she nodded at the answer and disappeared.

That would be the last time he'd talk to her for a while. The silence had been sudden and he saw her a few times after but she never made a move to inquire about what had caused the change. He was pretty sure that there was nothing to ask, considering their last conversation she was smart enough to figure it out.

It wasn't long after that where S.H.I.E.L.D started coming around looking to recruit them. Lance had jumped at the offer, he had something to prove to his precious cat...that he was more than a Hood. He ended up following him andd when Wanda asked about it he told her that he was ready for a change and that he was tired of watching her suck face with the pyromaniac but deep inside he knew there was more to it than that...

Ignoring her was starting to get hard. He wasn't sure why he was feeling the way he was but something inside him ached when he briefly meet the green orbs.

If he had to be honest with himself, and himself only because there was no way he would admit it to anyone else he'd have to say he missed her...

He missed her company...he missed teasing her when she didn't know how to handle certain situations...he missed her eye roll anytime he cracked a short joke...he missed fighting her in drills and having to hear her tell him that it didn't matter where he'd run because she would always be able to find him thanks to the smell of his 'disgusting cologne'.

At the same time though things with Crystal were really good, after his decision to stop talking to x-23 she had mellowed and things were perfect. She was everything he could possibly want in a girl...so it seemed that the best solution for these conflicted emotions of his were to get away and S.H.I.E.L.D gave him that opportunity. So he left...Crystal in tow.

A month into the training program with S.H.I.E.L.D he got unexpected visitors as the other hood members made their way onto the training room he was. They let him finish his exercises and afterwards went out to catch up on anything he had missed. Towards the end of they day he had expected them to get going back but was even more surprised when they told them they had come to stay. Apparently they all felt it was time for a change too. He took the news well cause as annoying as all of them could be, they were his family and now they were complete once again.

Seeing his sister though, caused his thoughts to wander back to one of the main reasons he had decided to leave. He was too proud and stubborn to ask Wanda about it but the thoughts lingered through the night enough to stop his sleep. Not wanting to wake Crystal, he got out of bed and took a walk ending up on the rooftop of the building.

He stretched before sitting on the ledge his eyes looking at the dark sky while his mind was deep in thought.

"You know it would be so easy to make myself an only child right now..."

He smiled at the voice that spoke behind, "I'm not looking...you still got a chance."

"True...but by keeping you around I have an easy target whenever I get mad..."

"That sounds more like a job for your boyfriend."

"Why have just one target when I can have two?"

He smirked as he felt her get closer until she stopped besides him. He watched her from the corner of his eyes and watched as she rested her elbows on the ledge he was sitting on.

"Having trouble sleeping?" She asked breaking the silence.

"Yeah. Same for you?"

"Yeah...this bed isn't a comfortable as the one at home."

"It takes awhile to get used to."

"That...doesn't make me feel any better. So you like it here? It feels like we didn't talk all that much the whole month you've been cooped up here."

"It's whatever...you get used to it."

"How are things with Crystal?"

"Good…"

She nodded and then remained silent.

As the silence continued he bit his lip and the words slipped out before he could stop them, "How-is-everyone-over-there-anyway…"

A ghost if a smile graced her lips before parting and answering with, "Everyone you'd care to know about is here...and you already asked them how they're all doing so…"

"Right…" his response was low, almost inaudible.

They stayed silent yet again before he started getting up. "I think I'm going to try and get some rest...you should too. The training starts at the crack of dawn." He watched her nod and then he started making his way towards the door. As he got closer to it he heard her voice again, her words stopping him dead in his tracks.

"She's fine by the way...in case that's who you were wondering about."

He stayed still for a good minute. Neither made a sound as the wind breezed by them. The cold air sank into his skin causing goosebumps eventually bringing him back to his sense and making him continue on his way not bothering to comment on her words.

The days following that went by quick. They were all filled with repetition: training, eating, spending time with the others, dates with Crystal...it was the same thing over and over again. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months...and the thoughts that had come with Wanda's sudden appearance eventually faded from mind to hide deep in the conscience of his heart.

Six months after his arrival to S.H.I.E.L.D, Nick Fury called them away from the land base they were staying on to Helicarriers. While in the communication room he explained that it was time to test how much their strength had grown and that although he didn't have enough Shield Agents to test them he had a few volunteers that were more than willing to take their place. When he had finished speaking the monitors behind him which showed the Shield logo changed to show familiar faces.

"Blimey!" John remarked as he looked at the monitor with a lone figure dressed in black, he was sitting on a wooden crate shuffling a deck of cards while looking upwards towards the sky. In the monitor next to his was a girl with green eyes and two toned hair, her lips pursed together as she blew her white bangs out of her face as she looked upwards as well. The following screens where the same, each individual was looking upwards to the sky and as they all focused on a different screen Wanda made her way towards a window.

He watched her lips curl upwards as her eyes looked at the land below.

"They're down there…"

"Yes they are...you'll each be dropped into a different area to meet one of them…"

"Sound like fun, yo…"

"Yeah," Fred agreed as he grinned at Todd next to him. "It'll be just like old times…"

"Except this time we'll win," Lance added as he grinned at the monitor his eyes focused on the short haired Shadowcat who had a big smile on her face as she looked at the hovering aircraft.

"If you're ready we're going to start the drop offs…"

Nick continued his instructions but anything else said was lost to Pietro's ears as his sapphire eyes focused on the monitor with a petite girl, her brown hair blowing in the breeze which was probably being caused by Helicarriers. He didn't remember much about what happened next, except being pushed off the hanger in a low area.

When he finally got a hold of himself and the situation he realized he was down on land now, looking at multiple wooden crates. Judging by the area it looked a lot like the area Gambit had been lounging around in, and in all honestly he hoped that that was indeed who he was going to be paired up with. Actually, anyone would be fine...anyone but _her_ that is.

His sapphire eyes scanned the area slowly trying to catch a glimpse of movement. His ears perked up trying to listen to footsteps and after a few minutes...he got nothing. With a sigh he crossed his arms in front of his chest and started walking down the corridor made up of wooden crates. Finding that the easiest way to get this over with was to do a quick scan of the area he started to speed up his pace until he was lost in blurs of silver and blue. Everything was going as he planned until something black came out of nowhere. The action had been so sudden that he found himself unable to react in time and whatever had found itself in his way made a power impact to his midriff causing him to fly backwards into a crate.

Groaning he slowly got up from the pile of wooden rubble and as he dusted himself off he froze…

"It doesn't matter where you run... I'll always be able to find you…"

His eyes snapped to his attacker and the surrounding area stilled as blue met green. His eyes moved away from the green orbs to study her as a whole. Her height remained the same, along with the way her lips stayed in a straight line giving one the impression that she was bored. Her facial structure seemed a bit different, the lines of her chin were sharper giving her an older look though it might have just been an illusion caused by the new bangs that caressed her forehead. Her outfit was different too, she now wore an official looking X-men uniform with the yellow belt with the red X buckle showing that she was now an elite member of the team.

"X-23."

"Quicksilver."

"...Hey…"

She gave him a skeptical look, "I don't think this is time for pleasantries...let's talk after I beat you…"

He perked an eyebrow at her and found his lips moving up into a smirk, "You sound awfully confident. You haven't seen me in half a year, how do you know I don't have new tricks up my sleeves?"

"Only one way to find out," she responded and her body went into a fighting stance. His grin widened and in he was gone in the blink of an eye. The fight began. Pietro found that no matter how he tried tricking her she did always find him, his speed gave him the advantage though because though she was able to locate him she wasn't able to catch him. That's not to say there weren't close calls, more than once he found himself barely dodging the sharp adamantium claws.

At some point during the battle he found himself being corner and as he dodged a punch and her claws got stuck in the wooden crate behind him he couldn't help making an observation.

"You know...this is just suppose to be a test but I can't help but feel that you want to do some actual damage...those claws get a little too close for comfort…"

"What makes you think I was planning to go easy on you?" she asked trying to get her claws unstuck. His lips moved to speak but no words came out. Seeing him momentarily distracted she retracted her claws back in freeing herself and throwing a kick towards him making him stumble backwards. "I don't have mercy for cowards so you'll just have to take it…"

The words made his eyes narrow at her, "What-did-you-say?"

She gave him a pointed look which blatantly read, 'You heard what i said'.

His death glare intensified and then the fight continued, this time neither holding back punches. Fifteen minutes passed in this fashion and Pietro was getting fed up of it so in a desperate attempt to finish it quickly he started running circles around her causing a tornado to form. As her tiny body started lifting off the ground he heard the familiar sound of her claws unleashing and while still running around focused at the center of the circle where he could make out her black outfit.

If he hadn't been too busy checking for the claws on her hands maybe we would have seen that the blow was coming from below, but by the time he took notice it was too late. He went flying as her leg crossed his path tripping him and making him fly and crash into wooden crates.

His eyes stayed close as his back ached and a few seconds later he felt pressure on his chest and arms then heard the familiar 'snikt' as metal made contact with both sides of his neck.

When he finally did open his eyes he looked at locks of brown swaying in front of his face. He found that he didn't have much mobility thanks to the claws pressed against him so he couldn't see what was pressing against his arms but he could only assume it was her legs since she was sitting on his chest.

"It looks like I win…"

He glared up at her.

"Don't give me that look...you weren't the only one training in the last six months…"

He didn't reply but his glare did not falter either. She sighed but refused to move from her spot on him.

"Your scent is different...finally got rid of that disgusting cologne?"

He ignored her his glare still fixed on her. She rolled her eyes at him, "What the hell is your problem? So you got beat...get it over it."

"That's not it…"

"Then what's your problem?"

"You called me a coward...wanna explain that?"

Her claws retracted and she moved her knees off his arms, "Not really…"

"Why not? You were pretty talkative a minute ago."

"Well I suddenly don't feel like talking."

"Well I do."

"I don't care," her body then slid down his body so that instead of straddling his chest she was straddling his waist. Her chest then leaned down towards his own, her face moved as well and she stopped moving when her chin hovered over his shoulders and her breath was on his ear. "You weren't so talkative 6 months ago and I didn't push you s maybe you shouldn't push me…"

"I didn't call you a coward…"

"Because I'm not."

"But now you suddenly don't want to tell me why I'm a coward so doesn't that make you one yourself?"

Her hands went to his chest And she pushed herself to sit up straight. "Touché…" as she finished saying the phrase she got completely up and then offered her hand to help him up. He looked at her hand hesitantly before taking it and standing tall.

Now that they weren't running around he saw that she was in fact still the same size barely reaching his shoulder. He looked her over and when he was done he went back to her face and gave her an exasperated look waiting for her to speak.

Both of her hands went to her waist as she looked at him in an annoyed fashion, "You're a coward because instead of telling me to my face that you had completely stop talking to anyone with a vagina you just started ignoring me...instead of dealing with it you up and ran away..."

"That's quite a way to phrase it," he mumbled more to himself than to her. "And you got your facts wrong...she didn't tell me to stop talking to anyone with a…" he stopped deciding that he didn't want to say it the way she had, "She didn't tell me to stop talking to girls…"

"Great! that makes things better," her voice came out in a sarcastic tone, "You were an ass all by yourself."

"If-you-want-answers-you-have-shut-up-and-listen-d on't-you-think?" he asked rapidly before continuing in a normal tone, "She only wanted me to stop talking...to you."

He watched her forehead scrunch up in confusion, "Me?"

"Yeah," he answered and looked away towards a pathway made of wooden crates. He waited for a few seconds but she didn't say anything else, deciding he didn't want to look at her expression after the words he started heading towards the direction of that path. It wasn't long before he heard her footsteps following.

There was just silence for a bit but he suddenly stopped as he heard it a sound coming from her he hadn't heard in a long while. Laughter. His eyebrow raised in curiosity as he turned to look at the short weapon of destruction, who looked anything but that part. He eyed her like she was crazy, she noticed the look and it made her laughter calm but a smirk appear.

"I'm sorry but...seriously? What in the hell would she have to be threaten by with me?" As she asked the question her head lowered so she could inspect herself, her eyes stayed on her humble chest before she looked back at him with a skeptical look on her face.

He found his lips turning upwards knowing exactly what she was thinking and in all honesty he had to agree with her. As far as certain feminine attributes went, X-23 had short pickings compared to Crystal. He had questioned it himself before as well, wondering why Crystal had felt so threatened by the green eyed brown haired girl. She was average and normal, except for the claws anyways...and maybe the fact that she had been raised to be a killer but those details were nothing to be jealous of.

As he looked at her clueless face though he felt that maybe he could see what Crystal saw. The way her eyebrows scrunched up and the way her lips were curled in a lopsided grin were actually quite...cute. The thoughts, memories and conflicted emotions he had kept in the back of his mind suddenly crept up on him.

He wasn't sure how he hadn't gotten so close to her to the point that she had to take a step back making her back make contact with a wooden crate and he only half registered what was going on when he felt his lips make contact with something soft and warm.

When he pulled away her eyes were opened wide and her lips were half parted in shock. Her expression must have been contagious because he felt his features copying hers as he took a step back.

He turned his head sideways and suddenly got the urge to put his legs to work and run far far away, but knowing that he had already pissed her off by doing that he stood in place. Neither said anything for a while but he eventually continued his stroll and kept going down the way he had been going at a steady pace. Like before it wasn't long before he heard her following.

As he walked he clicked his tongue, his mind wandering if he should tell her what he was thinking. He ended up giving in and his lips parted as he said, "You asked about my cologne earlier...and you're right I don't wear anymore."

"Why? Finally noticed how awful it really was?"

"Crystal used to buy it for me…"

"..."

"She um...gets it for someone else now. Apparently she thought I was putting too of my attention into S.H.I.E.L.D and not enough of it into her. When I did give her attention though it was never good enough...she always said it felt like my mind was elsewhere…"

"Oh…"

He glanced at her over his shoulder, her eyes were still wide in surprise and she had a finger lingering on her lips.

"Yeah…" He commented and gave a soft smile as she hurriedly took her finger off her lips. "But Thinking about it's probably for the best. She was right my head was usually somewhere else…" as he finished his phrase he made a complete stop noticing multiple paths ahead of them. "Uh...have any clue where we're suppose to go?"

As he asked the question he looked and noticed that it seemed like she was going to say something, that he could only guess had nothing to do with his question because her mouth kept opening and closing like a fish out of water. After a long pause with her lips parted she closed them and whatever she was planning too say was gone because instead she answered his question.

"Fury didn't really give any instructions about what to do after a winner was determined, but since we're done with our fight we might as well catch someone else's show," she answered and her lips curled into a grin.

He grinned, "Who did you have in mind?"

"I think we'll find some Southern Hospitality that way," she answered and nodded at the center.

"Which southerner?"

"Didn't you pay attention when I told you that Gambit will find Rogue no matter where she goes?"

"They're together, against who?"

"I smell fire...lots of it…"

His grinned widened, "Watching Pyro get his ass kicked does sound pretty fun actually."

"Then we better hurry before we miss all the fun," she replied and started running towards the area.

He watched her for a few seconds before he was gone after her in a blur, as he neared her he easily picked her up and mumbled something about 'some people being too slow' and without any more delays they went to join in on the fun…

A loud wailing broke the flashbacks and sapphire eyes opened. He looked back to the gray clouds before looking in the direction of the sound. Even though the sound of the crashing waves was loud this new sound easily overpowered it and he found himself heading inside the small cottage behind.

He headed towards the room where the sound was coming from but as he got closer to the door the noise suddenly stopped. His eyebrow perked as his hand grabbed on to the door knob and slowly opened it taking a peek inside.

His sapphire orbs soften dramatically at the sight on the bed. Green eyes met with his and he smiled as his made his way over to them. When he reached the bed he laid down softly not wanting to cause too much movement for fear of waking the cause of the cries from earlier.

"Who was it?

"Brandon...looks like he's gonna be the loud one."

He watched her caress the shaggy locks of silver hair, as she did this the babys mouth parted and a small whine escaped his lips but his eyes did not open. While she distracted herself with the little troublemaker his own hand went to the bundle next to him and his large finger touched the soft skin of the quiet twin.

He watched as the small chest rose up and went back down with the small breaths.

"Did you enjoy your nap?"

"Yeah, all ten minutes of it," she replied in a teasingly sarcastic voice. "What were you up too in that time?"

He made a small shrugging gesture, "Watching the storm…"

One of her eyebrows perked, "Why?"

"It was unexpected...it reminded me of a few things…"

"Like what?"

His eyes moved away from Brian's small frame and looked into the green eyes of the dark skinned woman, "That sometimes that things that come from out of nowhere are the most beautiful of all…"

He could have sworn that her cheeks were grazed with a pink tint, but before he could comment on it her eyes went back down to the twins who were sleeping soundly and her lips parted.

"Yeah, I guess they are."

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O **End** O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O

Hmm, would that be considered a fluffy ending? The small idea I had that caused this one shot was actually the idea of them having that scene in the end with the new born twins, oddly enough that's the part I'm most displeased with, but oh well. It's been awhile since I focused on just one pairing so I hope it wasn't too horrible and I didn't disappoint too much!

The twin names come from my Child of Darkness fic, the stories are not connected but I'm sure some of you that have read that fic might be wondering about it :)

That's it. Thank you so much for reading! Again I hope it was enjoyable and don't forget to review!

**Note to **_**Rebellious Hearts**_** Readers:** I miss you guys! Lol. I hope you enjoyed the Romy and Jonda mentions in this. You guys have about five more weeks to wait for me. Thanks for your patience! It seems that gaming has taken over a lot of my vacation so for those who were waiting for the Jubilay sequel to _Can't Sleep_ it looks like I might not be able to get it out before I have to get started on RH again. Hope you guys enjoyed this side fic and you'll be seeing soon. Thanks for the continued support!


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